Re-enactment

Launching the first of two painting shows, Brighton-based artist Louise Bristow (joint prizewinner for Oriel Davies Open 2016), presents a major body of new and recent work in her first exhibition in Wales.

Louise’s intimately beautiful paintings are created directly in response to arrangements of models and collage elements, reminiscent of miniature stage sets, assembled in her studio. The content of these are inspired by the artist’s large resource of books, magazines and printed ephemera, amassed over time from flea markets, charity shops in the UK and abroad. She also references her own photographs and intricate models she has crafted of buildings (or parts of buildings), kiosks and other three-dimensional forms. Each composition is developed through juxtaposing images and objects in an exploratory process, where initial ideas quickly evolve and shift in unknown directions.

Her compelling and intriguing paintings twist time and space, presenting alternative environments for exploration. The meaning or story within each piece is loose, having multiple readings over time and according to circumstance.